The more the Lakers play, the more I think they just don't have the talent to be as good as everyone thought they were. The dead weight with horrible contracts on this team is killing them.

Metta World Peace - He makes 7.2 a year and in my opinion is no better than vet's minimum level player. He is way overpaid and at this point, it's not that he's just underachieving. With the salary chunk he takes up, he's hurting the team far more than he's helping.

Pau Gasol - He's making over 2x as much as he should. He should be around Metta's current salary in my opinion, and that's assuming he can be even a shell of the player he was in 2009. He could be done as a productive big man. But I think if he was a 7 million a year player the expectations would be more in line with his abilities and he wouldn't be so bad anymore. I've tried to defend him for years but it's just getting to the point where I can't anymore. Either he's no good or he's not right for the system. Either way, at 19 million he's hurting way more than he's helping.

Steve Blake - Definitely a veteran's minimum player. Overpaid and doesn't contribute enough to warrant a 4 million a year salary when he's on the court.

Jordan Hill and Jodie Meeks - These are the types of players/contracts we need to have outside the stars. They're players that fit a certain role and are on really good contracts. Also it's much more tolerable to have a 2-3 million dollar player under-perform than a player of Gasol's contract.

I honestly don't know if we can compete until after next year when all the contracts come off the books and we can reload with players that are worthy of their contracts and role players that don't make 8 million a year and actually contribute. As it stands now we have the highest paid role player in the league in Pau Gasol. He contributes nothing more than a good role player but makes among the highest salaries in the league. That is not a recipe for a championship team. Our cap situation is no better than Brooklyn, who has too much money tied up in Joe Johnson and Lopez. They're stuck in cap hell and so are we. Luckily we get some relief in two years.

I also think the chemistry of this team is a problem, whether people want to say it's overblown or not. It may not implode like Shaq and Kobe did, but their lack of chemistry is a problem.

I'm going to continue to watch every game and be a fan, but I'm officially a member of the doom and gloom group. I hope they can prove me wrong.

Ive been saying this for years every single time Mitch over paid for underachievers such as LO, Puke, Sasha, Blake, Duhon, Artest, & Pau.

There's dead weight on this team but these are the players that can be classified as that:

EbanksClarkMorrisDuhonJohnson-Odom

That's five players that do not provide a damn thing for this team. Everyone else at least provides something.

With an older team, we need more depth on this bench.

This ^^^Is Coach D fault Period. He decides not to use them. Ebanks, Clark & johnson -Odom 3 of best athletes on the team & get no chances to make a difference towards the record. They are only dead weight cuz they dont get opportunities. Dead Weight are the guys that get meaningful mins & are not reliable nor consistent.

It's obvious that kobe isn't enough anymore. He's incredible but he's not going to drag the team to the playoffs with consecutive 50 point games anymore. The problem is I don't think he realized that. And we don't have the players around him to care enough to pick up the slack even though they do definitely have the talent.

If we had Kobe, pau, Dwight, and Nash playing with heart and chemistry and surrounded them with competent role players who could do the running, who could beat this team? They're more top heavy on talent than the spurs, who have aging superstars. But they're winning games and so could we. If we had better role players and we weren't paying 26 million dollars to Pau and Metta.

It's obvious that kobe isn't enough anymore. He's incredible but he's not going to drag the team to the playoffs with consecutive 50 point games anymore. The problem is I don't think he realized that. And we don't have the players around him to care enough to pick up the slack even though they do definitely have the talent.

If we had Kobe, pau, Dwight, and Nash playing with heart and chemistry and surrounded them with competent role players who could do the running, who could beat this team? They're more top heavy on talent than the spurs, who have aging superstars. But they're winning games and so could we. If we had better role players and we weren't paying 26 million dollars to Pau and Metta.

^^^No the Lakers are not top heavy better than Spurs! Like you think Kobe needs to learn = you need to learn we have Kobe & D12 who are playing well right now for the starters only! The bench is like it always is = pathetic mostly because the coach refuses to play the talent on the roster. Duncan is only aging superstar. TP is fine & so is Manu (he may get injured alot now but he isnt max'd out of his prime like Pau is!) Manu does not make $20 mill neither. Spurs have multiple spot up/ catch & shoot reliable scorers vs LA who has NONE. We need 2 better starters at SF & PF. We need another combo guard like poormans version of Kobe who can do everything ala JR Smith(4 example)

^^^No the Lakers are not top heavy better than Spurs! Like you think Kobe needs to learn = you need to learn we have Kobe & D12 who are playing well right now for the starters only! The bench is like it always is = pathetic mostly because the coach refuses to play the talent on the roster. Duncan is only aging superstar. TP is fine & so is Manu (he may get injured alot now but he isnt max'd out of his prime like Pau is!) Manu does not make $20 mill neither. Spurs have multiple spot up/ catch & shoot reliable scorers vs LA who has NONE. We need 2 better starters at SF & PF. We need another combo guard like poormans version of Kobe who can do everything ala JR Smith(4 example)

I don't know how you can say that at full potential, Dwight is not better than Duncan at this point in his career and the combination of Nash and Kobe is not better than Manu and TP. No one's playing up to their potential except for Kobe at this point, but at their best vs the Spurs' best, I don't know how you can even make that argument. Then outside of that we have Pau, who, if he played with any heart or aggression, is better than any of the Spurs' players outside the big 3. But I agree on the rest. The Spurs' have a much better salary situation and they have other players who actually contribute and can shoot. We have none of those type of players.

The people we need to focus on moving is Duhon, Blake, Ebanks, and Pau... they don't fit this team AT ALL and their defense is what kills us most games... and MWP defense isn't what it was either we need someone younger

At this point, anything for Pau would improve our team. Barea and Williams would be a good return imo. But I wouldn't be surprised if the FO passed on multiple deals if they had to take on contracts that extend past Gasol's. That'd mess up their plans for the 2014 free agency.

I don't know how you can say that at full potential, Dwight is not better than Duncan at this point in his career and the combination of Nash and Kobe is not better than Manu and TP. No one's playing up to their potential except for Kobe at this point, but at their best vs the Spurs' best, I don't know how you can even make that argument. Then outside of that we have Pau, who, if he played with any heart or aggression, is better than any of the Spurs' players outside the big 3. But I agree on the rest. The Spurs' have a much better salary situation and they have other players who actually contribute and can shoot. We have none of those type of players.

Kobe & D12 (when healthy are better than the Trio) however in a team game 3 is better than 2 especially when those 3 are surrounded by spotup/catch & shoot players & above all else the Spurs play smart cuz their coach is a no nonsense guy. He doesnt stand for the starters playing below their level. Coach Pop is not afraid to bench guys & or flat out not dress guys for games if he feels the need. You dont see the Spurs committing the same stupid dumb plays that the Lakers make 10-15 times every game. I dont think you understand what is wrong with PAu! He is max'd out. He will never get any better he has gotten worse the last 3 yrs str8. This trend will only continue. He is not built to last in a PRIME window for longer than the 3yr run he gave us. Right now Pau isnt better than TD (he is a shell of himself but still understands how to make an impact even as a slow unathletic big now)

Now when it comes to a regular season gm = Spurs will always be better. Come playoffs I ride wit Kobe & history tells me he gets the best of TD when it comes to head to head playoff series. But that doesnt mean Lakers are better team.

The people we need to focus on moving is Duhon, Blake, Ebanks, and Pau... they don't fit this team AT ALL and their defense is what kills us most games... and MWP defense isn't what it was either we need someone younger

Ebanks plays good defense & plays well when he gets his minimal ops. He is better defender than Jamison, Meeks, Duhon, Pau, & has the length & athleticism to recover when he gets beat initially.

Kobe & D12 (when healthy are better than the Trio) however in a team game 3 is better than 2 especially when those 3 are surrounded by spotup/catch & shoot players & above all else the Spurs play smart cuz their coach is a no nonsense guy. He doesnt stand for the starters playing below their level. Coach Pop is not afraid to bench guys & or flat out not dress guys for games if he feels the need. You dont see the Spurs committing the same stupid dumb plays that the Lakers make 10-15 times every game. I dont think you understand what is wrong with PAu! He is max'd out. He will never get any better he has gotten worse the last 3 yrs str8. This trend will only continue. He is not built to last in a PRIME window for longer than the 3yr run he gave us. Right now Pau isnt better than TD (he is a shell of himself but still understands how to make an impact even as a slow unathletic big now)

Now when it comes to a regular season gm = Spurs will always be better. Come playoffs I ride wit Kobe & history tells me he gets the best of TD when it comes to head to head playoff series. But that doesnt mean Lakers are better team.

I think you're arguing something different than what I'm saying. I'm agreeing with you about the Spurs and why they're better. and I'm also saying Pau is finished. The big 3 I'm talking about is Nash, Kobe, and Dwight. Not Kobe, Dwight, and Pau. My entire first post was about how I can't defend Pau anymore.